Flatwood Visitors Remains Total Mystery After Decades

The Flatwoods entity appeared September 12, 1952 in the West Virginia county of Braxton. First there was a large pulsating red ball of light that hovered above or rested upon the ground. Craft in which entity arrived? Entity itself estimated as 10 feet in height with a blood red face which appeared to glow from within. The body was greenish in coloration.

More Horrible Than Frankenstein?

Witnesses described the head of the entity as having bulging non-human eyes. Shape was like that of a heart or an ace of spades. The body of entity was described as being man-shaped. Clothing originally described as dark pleated shirt later amended to being greenish color. Some accounts state that entity had no visible arms. Others describe short stubby arms which end in long claw-like fingers.

Chronology

At 7:15 p.m. on September 12, 1952, Edward and Fred May, brothers, and their friend Tommy Hyer witnessed a bright object cross the sky. The object appeared to come to rest on land belonging to local farmer G. Bailey Fisher. The boys went to the home of Kathleen May where they reported seeing a UFO crash land in the hills. She accompanied the three boys, local children Neil Nunley, Ronnie Shaver and 17-year old West Virginia National Guardsman Eugene ‘Gene’ Lemon, to the site in an effort to locate whatever it was that had been seen. The Lemon dog ran ahead out of sight and suddenly began barking. Moments later the animal raced back to the group cowering with its tail between its legs. The group soon reached the top of a hill where they reportedly saw a large pulsating ball of fire about 50 feet to their right. They also detected a pungent mist that made their eyes and nose burn.

Far More Than Simple UFO Encounter

The National Guardsman then noticed two small lights over to the left of the object underneath a nearby oak tree. He directed his flashlight towards them, revealing the creature, which is reported to have emitted a shrill hissing noise and to have begun to glide towards them before changing direction and heading off towards the red light. At this point the group fled the scene in panic.

Explaining Unexplainable To Authorities

Upon returning home May contacted Sheriff Robert Carr and A. Lee Stewert, co-owner of the Braxton Democrat. Stewert conducted a number of interviews and returned to the site with Lemon later that night where he reported that there was a sickening, burnt, metallic odor still prevailing. The sheriff and Deputy Burnell Long searched the area separately but reported finding no trace of the encounter. Early the next morning Stewart visited the site of the encounter for a second time and discovered two elongated tracks in the mud. Also found were traces of a thick black liquid. He immediately reported them as being possible signs of a flying saucer landing based on the premise that the area had not been subjected to vehicle traffic for at least a year. A statement from the mother of Lemon, said that at the approximate time of the crash her house had been violently shaken and her radio had cut out for 45 minutes.

Truly Sickening State Of Affairs

Several members of the group reported being overcome with symptoms which persisted for some time These were attributed to having been exposed to the mist emitted by the creature. The symptoms included irritation of the nose and swelling of the throat. Lemon was reportedly the worst affected. He suffered from vomiting and convulsions throughout the night, and had difficulties with his throat for several weeks afterwards. A doctor who treated several of the witnesses is reported to have described their symptoms as being similar to victims of mustard gas. Such symptoms are also commonly found in sufferers of hysteria which can be brought on by exposure to a traumatic or shocking event. Duh!